Mapping Apps Follow the Crowd

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Telenav says its Scout app pioneers the use of crowdsourced map updates.CreditTelenav

By John R. Quain

May 30, 2014

Think of it as the hive approach to car navigation systems: One driver, like a worker bee, finds the quickest way from Point A to Point B and then shares that route with all the other drivers. It’s the basic idea behind all crowdsourcing, the sharing of free user-generated content to create information like restaurant ratings and contractor recommendations.

Now it’s poised to become the main strategy for keeping the maps of route guidance systems current. Fortunately, you don’t have to wiggle and buzz to join in — just use your smartphone.

For the first time, according to Telenav, a navigation services company, an established program is switching from maps that are professionally produced to ones that are crowdsourced, using data and updates provided by volunteer contributors.

Telenav, which uses TomTom maps in its Scout navigation app, in May started to use crowdsourced maps from OpenStreetMap in the iOS version of its navigation software. The Android app will be similarly updated later this month.

Until now, most makers of navigation apps have bought commercially available maps such as those produced by TomTom and Nokia’s Here (formerly Navteq). To verify the map data, those companies sent cartography teams on the road, marking name changes and speed limits, correcting intersection errors and noting routes that close during snow or monsoon seasons.

By contrast, OpenStreetMap is based on information provided by amateur users who send in corrections and road changes. The fixes are submitted two ways: manually by users or automatically by voluntary GPS traces that track drivers’ smartphones as they travel, much the same way that many apps track users’ locations. The maps are in turn available free for anyone to use on websites or in software.

“It’s the first time an open-source map has been deemed high enough quality to be used in a commercial navigation product,” Steve Coast, founder of OpenStreetMap and now head of OpenStreetMap at Telenav, said in a telephone interview.

Mr. Coast argues that rather than worrying whether a navigation app based on crowdsourced information will steer them off a pier, users should consider OpenStreetMap to be more accurate and up-to-date than commercial maps because of the 1.6 million contributors providing local knowledge of roads.

To add new road and map information, registered volunteers draw and label new roads online at the OpenStreetMap site. Whenever a change is made, volunteer editors familiar with particular locales are alerted; they can correct discrepancies such as a restaurant that is displayed on the wrong side of a road.

Mr. Coast said that disagreement is rare, with some notable exceptions. “We do have a few conflict areas, such as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” he said, citing an example of where there may be two different names for the same road because of local language and cultural differences.

Telenav adds an additional layer of verification to OpenStreetMap by having professional editors conduct spot checks. Changes involving road deletions, for example, will draw an editor’s attention, and route segment changes are compared against GPS traces. Maps are updated monthly, but Mr. Coast said he hoped that weekly updates would be available soon.

Telenav’s shift in strategy may signal further disruption in the navigation market. Google paid nearly $1 billion last year for another crowd-based traffic and navigation company, Waze. The main advantage of Waze is that as the number of users increases, so does the accuracy of its live traffic reports, which are based on real-time speed and location data from users’ phones.

However, not all navigation information is generated by users. In the United States, for example, Waze uses Census Bureau data for streets and addresses, which is then laid over the maps for navigation. Even so, the volunteer community of users is important, Di-Ann Eisnor, head of growth for Waze, said.

“There’s that core community that really cares a lot,” she said. Fixes can be made using an online editor similar to the OpenStreetMap approach. Many changes — temporary road closures, for example — can be gleaned only from drivers who actively input such submissions.

Increasingly, however, mapmaking is becoming a more passive pursuit. Simply by driving, users are automatically submitting information over their phones about their routes and the roads they travel. It’s the collection of such data that acts as a check on possible crowdsourcing errors.

Telenav says it spent several years working to integrate OpenStreetMap with Scout. If the new strategy improves directions for drivers, other navigation programs may be tempted to stop buying maps and follow the open-source crowd.